


Accidental Meetings

by fell_on_black_days



Series: Her Name Was Claire [2]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: F/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22552180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fell_on_black_days/pseuds/fell_on_black_days
Summary: A series of short ficlets between Dante and OC Claire after meeting in Erin's bar.
Relationships: Dante/Original Character(s)
Series: Her Name Was Claire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622593
Kudos: 8





	1. A Game of Pool

**Author's Note:**

> A friendly game of pool at the bar.

Dante occupied his favorite booth at Erin’s that Friday night, just like he did practically every Friday night, when Claire walked in. She’d worn her favorite suede boots that night to match her grungy jeans, plaid shirt and Nine Inch Nails T. Her day at work had been rough and she’d ran home to change so she could kick back at her cousin’s dive and bother her favorite family member while downing cheap vodka and glaring at the occasional douchebag fuckboi that stumbled in. 

She gave a nod to the white-haired merc as she walked toward the bar where Erin had her first shot waiting. Unbeknownst to her, Dante’s eyes had followed her across the room. The hunter hadn’t spoken to her outside of a quick “Hi” or “Hey” since the first day they’d met so it was a surprise when he joined her at the pool table later. They had a quiet, but friendly game before the hunter said his goodbyes, leaving her to her own devices for the night. 

She stayed until close to help Erin clean up after last call and followed him up to his apartment with the intent of crashing on his couch. Before passing out her cousin grabbed them both a beer from his fridge and plopped down on the cushion beside her.

“So, Dante huh?” he said, lifting his eyebrow at her.

“What about him?” she shot back.

“What did he wanna talk about?”

Claire eyed her cousin as she sipped her beer, trying to figure out what he was after. “Not much, apparently. Just played a few rounds of pool. No big deal.” She shrugged it off as she drank her beer.

“Yeah right, he doesn’t  _ just _ do anything around here. Guy may act like a showboat but he’s a thinker.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “And just why does that matter to me, Cous? He’s just another guy.”

Erin elbowed her ribs as he looked his cousin up and down. “No way. If he was he’d have hit on you and tried to sneak you out for a back alley fuck. Damn, wish he’d do that with me though.” Erin laughed as Claire snorted in her tell-tale amusement. 

“Yeah, he’s damn pretty isn’t he?” she chuckled before taking another sip. Her smile disappeared though as she reached the end of her bottle and said, “Those brooding types are dangerous though. Guys like that suck you in and next thing you know you're listening to depressing breakup music without ever having dated the guy.”

Erin slapped her across the back to break her out of her funk before wishing her goodnight. She would remember later that her thoughts were about a certain white-haired man in red as she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Shopaholic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patty drags Dante out on a shopping excursion.

It was another two or three weeks before Dante Saw Claire after their game of pool. He’d been dragged out in the middle of the day, against his will, by Patty Lowell to serve as her shopping cart. 

He grumbled from behind a gargantuan stack of boxes and bags as she ducked into “just one last store” for the fifth time that afternoon. “Come  _ on _ Patty. You’ve got over a dozen boxes here already! Can we just call it a day so I can go back to my nap?”

The young girl stamped her foot in a manner contrary to her ladylike image and said, “This is the best store in the area and I haven’t found the right accessories for that new dress yet. It’s this store or bust Dante!” 

He continued to grumble as she marched inside until he heard a familiar voice say “Welcome to Boutique Vista! How can I help you today Miss Lowell?”

Dante craned his neck to peer around at the clerk and, sure enough, Claire was standing behind the entry counter ready to serve Patty. She had completely changed her look for work and was wearing a plain black dress with her hair tied back in an intricate bun. Her makeup was way toned down and she had eschewed her trademark cateye for a more natural look. Odd as it was to see her dressed for posh customer service, she was gorgeous as ever.

Dante blinked at her a few times before she noticed who it was standing behind Patty’s shopping haul. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second and a brief smirk ran across her full lips as she stifled that oddly endearing snort of hers. Patty, ever the observant know-it-all darted her eyes between the two before asking, “Do you two know each other?”

Before Dante could reply Claire cleared her throat and turned back to her customer. “Your friend here is a regular at my cousin’s bar. We’ve bumped into each other from time to time. Now, about that jewelry you’re looking for…”

Dante watched Claire lead patty over to a display as his head continued to spin. How was it that  _ his _ barfly who wore nothing but rocker shirts and grungy jeans and could kick any drunk’s ass at a moment’s notice could pull off the posh, mid to upper class look for a place like this without looking completely lost?

Thoughts about her followed him around along with Patty’s chatter for the rest of the afternoon. It wasn’t until he was in the middle of a job that night when he realized her was thinking about her as “his” anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always please feel free to let me know what you did and didn't like about the chapter! Constructive criticism is appreciated!


	3. Grabbing a Slice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante runs into Claire on a pizza run.

Dante dragged his tired body into the pizza joint as the rain pounded on the sidewalk outside. He’d nearly lost several fingers that day to an overzealous demon with way too many mouths in place of other sensory organs and had ruined both of his gloves as well as his shoes in the process.

His black shirt was drenched in blood, both his and otherwise, and his hair had a pinkish tinge where the rain had failed to wash it clean. In short, he looked and felt like shit and was grateful that his coat was red enough to make blood stains less noticeable than other garments. 

He’d called ahead from a payphone hoping to schedule a delivery but had been told that his tab was way too damn full to send some poor driver to deal with his shit. So he’d forced himself to take the long way home and dig through his wallet to drop off a couple hundred to appease the only pizzeria that would take his orders anymore.

Just as the door swung closed behind him he heard a low whistle from across the way and looked up to find Claire in all her pinup rocker glory. “You look like shit cowboy,” she said with a wince. “Get into a fight with the wrong end of a woodchipper?” 

Dante let out a low snort before flashing his cockiest grin, “Nah gorgeous, just another demon that got jealous of this glorious bod. Poor bastard didn’t know what to do with itself.”

Claire let out a boisterous laugh before saying, “It’s loss then. Erin mentioned you were in the demon hunting business. Didn’t realize he was serious though. Kind of expected you to be more built.” The wry smile on her lips belied the sting of the backhanded remark, making Dante feign emotional injury.

He gripped his chest and made a short, paind bow saying, “You wound me dear lady! I would never set such a stain against your honor!”

The two of them laughed a bit before the cashier cleared his throat, “Uh, Mister Redgrave? The boss said you’d be coming in and to cut you off if you couldn’t clear your tab. Do you, um... “

Dante swore and started digging into one of his many pockets to find his wallet when Claire tossed a twenty on the counter. “Tell the boss I’ve got this one covered. This should cover it.”

The teenager blinked up at her then at Dante as both of them continued to banter. Taking the lack of protest as a sign, the kid switched the name on the order and dropped the cash into his drawer. Later, his boss would let out a heavy sigh and tell the kid that everything was fine as he made several interesting observations about the store’s oldest customer and newest patron.


	4. A Girl Needs Her Ice Cream

Sometimes a girl just needs a fucking strawberry sundae. And when that need arises it must be met so Claire hauled her hungover ass out of bed at a time obscenely past noon and crawled her way over to Restaurant Fredi. She could hardly remember the bender she’d been on the night before but the events that lead to it were nothing if not catastrophic. 

A demon had crashed through the boutique she worked at, destroying half of the building and at least ninety percent of the merchandise in one fell swoop. She was the unlucky bitch that had been closing that night and survived by the skin of her teeth by sprinting out the hole where the door used to be and all the way down to her cousin’s bar. She’d called her boss, thoroughly freaked out by, you know, almost dying. And was told to take it easy while they figured out what the hell to do.

And take it easy she had. Until about 5 am.

Now that her body had bitch slapped her brain into semi-normal functions, it needed electrolytes and sugar. She figured ice cream and french fries would cover both needs fairly easily and was halfway through Fredi’s door when she heard a familiar voice.

“How many times do I need to tell you no olives Fredi? You’re killing me man!” 

Claire looked up to see Dante, for lack of a better word, pouting at the fry cook as the silent chef stared him down. “You don’t like it? Don’t eat it. Pick the damn things off for all I care.”

The devil in red sighed as his shoulders sagged and turned towards his booth with the offending pie in tow. Meanwhile Claire dragged herself up to the bar, ordered two sundaes and scooted into the seat opposite him. “So cowboy, not an olive fan?”

Dante looked up at her shade covered eyes before zeroing in on the ice cream she’d shoved his way. Claire couldn’t hold back a snort as his eyes went wide and he said, “Goddammit you’re a fucking angel.” The laugh quickly spread down to her belly as she tried to stifle it behind her hands, only stopping when it caused her headache to flare.

“You looked so damn pitiful when you saw that pizza, I couldn’t help myself.” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “So you hate olives and love strawberry sundaes. Anything else I should know?”

“Careful babe,” Dante joked, “it won’t take much more for me to full on kidnap you. Next thing you’ll tell me is that you love pizza and red jackets and we’ll both be over the moon.”

She would later wonder why she’d felt so flirty then and there, but for now she said “Now why would that be a bad thing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live! Holy shit yall law school is sucking out my soul one tired scream at a time. I promise I'll be around. Just please forgive the sporadic updates.


	5. Grief

Claire shot back her fifth (or was it sixth?) whiskey that night. Erin looked at her askance but kept his mouth shut about her self destructive grieving. He knew what the date was and he knew not to push her buttons or mother her into an early night. 

Claire was an orphan, and a bitter one at that. It had been over a decade since her parents had died in a demon attack. She’d been in therapy for a few years as part of foster care and the depression and anxiety had subsided for the most part, but every year on the night it happened she would self medicate into a coma and fall off the map for a few days. 

She downed another drink, dropped a couple of bills on the bar and stumbled out the door. She didn’t see Dante until she had nearly run into him. The hunter had been a few blocks away when they collided. He was fresh off a job and on his way back to the shop when the barfly fell into his path. 

“Hey there gorgeous,” he chuckled, “Looks like you had a few too many tonight.” His smile normally would have piqued her good humor but nights like this left a sour taste in her mouth. She ran the back of her wrist over her eyes, smearing her lower liner in the process and looked up at him blankly, so deep inside her own head that she couldn’t manage words. 

The hunter frowned at her, unaccustomed to the silence and unsure of the cause. “You don’t look so good babe. Where’s your apartment? I’ll walk you home.”

Instead of being compliant, she shook him off and stumbled a few steps forward. “Ish fine. I’m okay.” 

Dante sidestepped in front of her, grabbing her elbow as he cut her off. “No you’re not. Erin’s isn’t too far, let’s get you there at least. Somewhere you can sleep this off in peace.”

She ripped her arm out of his grasp and spat out her reply. “I shaid I’m f-fine. Mind your own bushiness cowboy,” she seethed. 

If she had been sober she would have noticed the annoyed eye twitch that Dante failed to stop as he stepped back in front of her again. The sky took the opportunity to open up and rain began to patter down onto the pavement. At that moment Claire’s eyes began to burn and she realized that she’d started crying. Now, with mascara bleeding down her cheeks, she looked up at him and did something very stupid.

She grabbed onto his collar and pulled him down into a sloppy, drunken kiss. She wasn’t looking for comfort or romance, just something to distract her from the pain she was in. Unfortunately, or maybe blessedly, Dante wasn’t into dubious consent. He pushed her back by the shoulders and looked down at the sidewalk as he said, “Look, you’re plastered and obviously hurting, I get it. But I’m not gonna just bone you so you can feel better about whatever shit you’re going through.” 

He looked back up at her, now with his own blue eyes full of hurt, and sighed. The next thing she knew he’d slipped off his coat and wrapped it around her to protect her from the rain. “I’m not gonna sleep with you but my place is just up the street. You can take the couch tonight while you sleep this off. We can talk in the morning.”

She leaned into him, too drunk to feel embarrassed as he shepherded her to his shop. She hardly noticed as he guided her into his door and over to his couch, laying her down on her side and covering her more thoroughly with his long coat as she drifted off. 

She wasn’t awake and wouldn’t remember him tucking her hair behind her ear or the sad sigh he let out as he walked over to his desk and unplugged his phone. She didn’t see the hurt on his face as he cupped his chin and covered his mouth where she had kissed him. And she wouldn’t know or understand why he looked over at his mother’s picture before turning it face down onto his desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, if you ever run into a friend who is drunk off their ass for any reason and can't get them home, then make sure you get them to a safe place to sleep it off and put them on their side. This will keep them from choking and drowning on their own sick if they hurl in the middle of the night. 
> 
> On another note. This will be continuing in a longer form fic as part of the same series. No idea when and how frequently I'll be posting that because my life is a trash fire and I work up to 90 hours a week but that's life. Thanks for sticking with me so far and I hope you've enjoyed Claire and Dante being total idiots about each other.

**Author's Note:**

> If this your first time reading you should really check out the previous work in the series. Most of my stuff is a series of short form fics that build up to a larger picture.


End file.
